Prophet #26

by Brandon Graham and Emma Rios

Since Brandon Graham relaunched this failed and best-forgotten Rob Liefeld property a few months ago, I'd been hoping that he would draw an issue as well as write.  Despite the fact that he's worked with gifted artists such as Simon Roy and Farel Dalrymple, I wanted to see what Graham would do with the strange future he's created.  This issue gave me my wish.

After the first three issues of Graham's run, which contained a longer story, each subsequent issue has been a done-in-one story that involves a clone (or three) of the original John Prophet waking up on some strange world or other setting, and doing something that has to do with the return of the Earth Empire.  This issue is a little different, as its protagonist is a Jaxson, "one of old man Prophet's unhatched eggs, brought to life to fight along in his fight."  The Jaxson looks like a robot, although we know it has to eat to heal itself and generate energy to do things like fly.

This one is on a strange, mostly abandoned planet.  He senses one of his brothers, a larger creature named Xefferson, who joins him on a trip through the 'Cyclops Rail', a system of wormholes used for travel.  Like the other issues that came before it, what is really going on in this book remains a bit of a mystery, but Graham's storytelling is so strong, I'm just happy to ride along with it, trusting that everything will make sense soon enough. This issue feels like a tribute to Moebius, with its alien worlds drawn in Graham's simplistic yet complex style.  There is a sense of wonder in these comics that is lacking from just about everything else on the stands these days, and that makes this a treat to read each month.

There is also a back-up by the incredible Emma Rios, which shows another Prophet clone engaging in some sort of congress with a spider-creature.  I think; it's a little unclear, but very lovely.  This book continues to climb to the top of my affections.